Harrelson

MEMORANDUM ****

Petitioner Kristina Harrelson (“Harrelson”) filed an application for Supplemental Security Income on January 15, 2002. Harrelson, who was diagnosed with fibromyalgia, claimed to suffer from sharp shooting pains in the scapula, chest, and sciatic area, right hip pain, chronic fatigue, depression and anxiety. On September 26, 2003, an Administrative Law Judge (“ALJ”) found that Harrelson was not disabled and thus not entitled to supplemental security benefits. Harrelson thereafter filed suit in the District of Oregon challenging the Commissioner’s determination. On January 26, 2006, the district court issued an order affirming the ALJ’s decision.

Because the parties are familiar with the remaining facts and procedural history, we do not reiterate them here unless necessary to explain this disposition.

I.

We review de novo the district court’s order upholding a decision of the Commissioner denying benefits to an applicant. Batson v. Comm’r ofSoc. Sec. Admin., 359 F.3d 1190, 1193 (9th Cir.2004). We must affirm the Commissioner’s decision if supported by substantial evidence in the record as a whole, and if the Commissioner applied the correct legal standards. Id.…

I respectfully dissent. The majority accepts five of the ALJ’s seven reasons for rejecting Harrelson’s subjective pain testimony. In fact, only one incident relied upon by the ALJ actually undermines her credibility. I would remand to the ALJ for consideration of whether he would reject Harrelson’s pain testimony based on that single incident alone.

1. The ALJ found Harrelson’s testimony of extreme pain “inconsistent with reports to physicians.” Harrelson’s reports to doctors plainly indicate some progress as certain treatments—namely, methadone—proved helpful to ease the pain. But the record indicates that, even after starting methadone, Harrelson complained about serious pain.

The chronology of her reports of pain is worth recounting in some detail. In December 2000, she reported “pain in her back, buttocks, and down her right leg.... She states that her low back pain is worse when she sits or stands and she just doesn’t sit or stand for very long.” In October 2001, she reported pain “‘like a knife’ ... so severe she feels a pulling and numbness on the right side of her face ... [and] sharp, shooting pains radiating down the triceps region.” In January 2002, she rated “her…